Friday February 20, 1998 Part 2 15 Messages ====================================== Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 14:06:37 -0500 From: "albobo@worldnet.att.net" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Beast Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net ` Oh Kelly - More tears! I'm so sorry about Beast! How wonderful you were to him. I'm glad that you were there for him and now he's playing with Stormie in a sunny happy place. My thoughts are with you! And all the best luck with Wuzzy! > > Kathy G and the 3 Furries in Daytona Beach =^.^= - Rusty =^.^= - Smokey =^.^= - Money See us at: http://cgi.gambitsys.com/homey/webdoc5.htm The Cat: Mother Nature's Masterpiece! -------------------------------------- From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:21:46 +0000 Subject: (Fwd) Kelly Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Reply-To: "Carol Gentry" From: "Carol Gentry" To: Subject: Kelly Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:10:10 -0800 I am so sorry for your lose. But you're right. They are both at the Rainbow Bridge with my Sasha and I'm sure having more fun then they were having. Good luck with Wuzzy. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Carol from Vancouver -----Original Message----- From: Brad To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date: Friday, February 20, 1998 8:10 AM Subject: Beast >To all who furiously responded to my cry for help...Thank you. > >Unfortunately, it is too late. Beast came home last night and acted >fairly normal, jumping onto the chair and scratching my large throw >pillows I keep on the floor. He slept all night with me under the >covers. I would wake periodically to check his breathing. This morning >as he was following me around during my normal routine, I noticed his >breathing wasn't right. He sounded like he had a runny nose and he was >breathing some what out of his mouth. I remember my vet saying re: >Storm that as long as she was breathing steadily and not using her >mouth, she was fine. I told my husband to say Goodbye before he left. >I knew in my heart and soul that it was time. I went to work. I am a >Nanny and needed to get the kids off to school. Once that was done I >rushed home. He was still here hanging on. I had to wait an hour for >the vet to open. I held him and watched some tv to pass the time. Once >the vet was open I called. My usual vet was in (which surprised me...an >omen). She could see me in 1/2 hr. So I waited some more than went in. >Luckily they took us right away. My vet checked him out and found that >his lungs were filling up. Last night they were clear. He had the >yellow jaundice color around his nose. She felt it was time too. After >Storm(ie) passing without me, I couldn't bear to let Beast suffer alone. >She had a hard time finding a vain which ripped my heart out. She >finally had to give him the injection in his stomach. It took a few >minutes longer. He feel asleep in my arms as I rocked him. Then >finally his heart stopped peacefully. I am grateful for the last 24 hrs >I had with him. He rode to the vets tucked up on my lap. I know it >isn't the safest way for an animal to travel, but he felt better. As >did I. I sort of felt like I was leading him to his death. But I know >more than anything, that it was the right thing to do. He has joined >his sister (Storm) and all his 'cousins' at the Rainbow Bride. I can >see him nudging heads with Storm(ie). > >Now it is back to the vets again tomorrow to have Wuzzy checked out >(blood test and booster shot). Please keep your fingers crossed that he >is -. > >Adding to the sorrow, is that my mother's dog, a cocker, "honey" was hit >by a car last night. She is was 10 and has been sick. She was getting >better and just wandered into the street last night. I think it was her >way of letting go. So I suppose that with all the furry people leaving >us behind, that the Bridge is getting pretty full. I know it'll never >be full, but it sure has been busy. > >I will be in touch...Much Love...Kelly and Wuzzy -------------------------------------- Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 15:43:35 +0000 From: LawBet Organization: Home for Wayward Felines To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Beast Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Kelly, I think a couple of Charles Dickens quotes are appropriate here: For you: "It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before." For Beast: "It's a far, far better place I go, than I have ever been before." Mourne Beast's passing; that is good. Continue to live for Wuzzy; that is good also. Larry (The Lurker) -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 16:58:49 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Drugs for Russian Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Today I bought Russian Nutri-Cal and I need to know more about Epogen if anyone is familiar with it. We found out that her blood test shows she is not producing enough red cells. We will go with one transfusion and see how it does. The vet said it could last her a few months. But I know that your body must reproduce the red cells constantly. They do not live months, do they? We are trying all we can afford and all we can think of. This is turning into a loosing battle. She is just like a human leukemia patient, but we do not have the option of bone marrow transplant with her. Help. Linda -------------------------------------- Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:57:27 -0600 From: Cheryl and Michael To: "felvtalk@MailingList.net" Subject: It's time to say goodbye.. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Well, I had a bad feeling today, so I left work about 11:00. Even though Copley continued to show interest in food he just refused to eat. He seemed to be going downhill fast as all of a sudden I noticed he was white. I rushed him to the vet. Copley is still with me. I'm just not sure how to go about all of this. He is hemorrhaging. He is too far gone to help, but yet he is hanging on. As weak as he is he has not given up. Because he is absolutely no pain at all I have brought him home. The vet said he will most likely drift off to sleep and not wake up. We don't know if this will last for a few hours or a day or more. I am sitting next to him now on the floor. I found the one spot in the house where the sun is shining through. I have seen several people write these messages and I have cried through each and everyone of them. I was so sorry to read about Beast this morning. My heart is with you today and sharing your grief. I am writing now, because I just don't think I'll have the courage to do it later. I also don't know if I am doing the right thing. If the vet had told me Copley was the slightest bit uncomfortable I would have made that dreadful decision, but since he is not uncomfortable I also believed it was not my place to interfere with nature. If at all possible I wanted to be at home with him when and if it happened. Now I have that chance. Selfishly, I was hoping it happened with me unaware, but now the two of us are together cuddling in the sun. I want to thank each and every one of you. I know you all can understand how much Copley meast to me. Especially when they get this dreadful disease. They become the center of your like and your top priority. Copley has grown more and more affectionate as we have had to learn to trust and depend on each other. That has just made these last hours that much more difficult. He is still fighting, but my bag of tricks is empty and I'm losing my best companion. Again, thank you all for your advise, support and encouragement. We will continue to fight for Jim to get exposure as his work and his cause is so important. I hope the rest of you get on and fight the fight. You don't need me to tell you how worth it it is! All the best from Copley and Cheryl -------------------------------------- Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 15:21:38 +0000 From: LawBet Organization: Home for Wayward Felines To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: It's time to say goodbye.. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Cheryl, Yea, tho I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou art with me. This, you may be assured, is what Copley is thinking right now. In this case, you are the "thou". I hope I don't bore or upset you, for that is not my intention. But let me relate a story from personal experience if I may. I commanded a unit in Vietnam during 1966-67. While in command, I lost a man. He had received a severe blow to the head which had severed his brain stem. I visited him daily. He did not know I was there because he was in a coma. He died on the third day. This man died alone; 10,000 miles from his family and loved ones; no one was there but me, his commander; his family had no prior knowledge of his impending death; the notification came by a personal visit by an officer and chaplain. The trajedy in this is not that he died, but rather that he died ALONE and away from home. This will not happen to Copley. You are there with him and, believe me, he knows this. He will go peacefully knowing that you are beside him. Did you do the right thing bringing him home? Absolutely!! He was not suffering; what better place to cross over to the bridge than at home with your loved ones by your side. What more can any of us ask than that? Copley has been blessed to a far greater extent than my soldier was. Be at peace; Copley is in the right place. Larry (The Lurker) -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:12:16 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Beast Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Kelly, I'm so sorry you lost beast. I to am crying but for Russian. The anxiety is so bad and the reaching for answers that can't fix the final ending. I want to keep her so bad but I can't bare to see her hurting. You did what we all do. Let a loved one have peace. Linda -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:14:44 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Anitra Frazier reply/separation of cats Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Hi Michele, Not doing as good emotionally as I wish. Maybe the crying will help tonight. Linda -------------------------------------- From: DLMLLM@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:17:49 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: It's time to say goodbye.. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Cheryl, you hang in there with Copley. He knows your there for him. It will make his trip that much easier. God bless you. Linda -------------------------------------- From: "James G. Wilson" To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:04:00 +0000 Subject: (Fwd) For My Little Boy Tucker Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net This person is still not a member of the list, so please respond to him personally. I think this is the same note he sent to me a few days ago, but...... ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:23:59 -0500 From: Glen Zipper Reply-To: gzipper@tiny.brooklaw.edu To: felvtalk@mailinglist.net Subject: For My Little Boy Tucker To Whom It May Concern: I have a couple of questions: 1-Last week my cat tested positive for felv. He is 6 years old and has always been an indoor cat. We do have 2 other cats, one of which was a stray that we brought in 2 years ago. I assumed it was the stray that was the culprit. However, I had my two other cats, including the stray tested the other day and they both came back negative (of course, I had them immediately vaccinated). This raises two interesting sides of a coin for me: 1)if these cats didn't give it to him, where did he get it? These are the only cats he has had contact with and he is NEVER outdoors.; and 2)if somehow he was the original carrier, how could he have never infected the other 2 cats. They have lived together for years and they constantly groom each other, bite, wrestle, use the same litter boxes, eat from the same bowls, etc..furhtermore, these 2 other cats were not vaccinated previously. Of course, the best answer I could hope for would be that the test results were erroneous, so, of course, I have had him re-tested at another vet and I am awaiting the pending results (Monday). My second question regards treatment options assuuming he is positive for felv. I have looked into Immunoregulin, Interferon, and some ALoe Vera extract (Aceceman?). One vet told me she had no experience with them and wouldn't want to endeavor into uncharterd territory. Another vet told me that her clinic does use Interferon but only once the cat becomes ill (my cat is a-symptomatic, we came accross the felv trying to attribute some weight loss to an ailment, and currently, he seems to be eating better). She said they wait for the cat to get ill because the body develops a resistence to the Interferon and one would want it to be most potent when the animals immune system is at its weakest. Also, Ive read that some of the side effects of the drugs are undesireable to the point of being dangerous in themselves. I would appreciate some responses on what some of you are using, how effective they are, how dangerous they are, etc. Also, I wonder if someone might offer me a practical approach to these treatments. I am a law student on a fixed income. Im willing to extend myself to the limit, but you can't get blood from a stone. Finally, anyone is encouraged to respond to this inquiry, but please identify yourself as either a vet or laymen. Thank you. My best to all of you out there suffering through the same ordeal, and my hopes are with you all. Glen Zipper Brooklyn, NY -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:05:34 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Drugs for Russian Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Linda, As we all grieve for Beast and probably Copeley, you are a reminder that we must fight on. There will always be a Russian and a Merlin that needs us to continue. The Epogen. It is shot that mimics a hormone, produced by the kidneys. The kidneys are one source of stimulation to the body telling it we need red blood cells. Stress on the long bones, the speen are a couple of others. This drug fools the rbc producing elements in the body into thinking it needs to step up the production of red blood cells. I won't lie to you, it is expensive. A one cc vial that I think has 1000units in it is about $150. If memory serves me, the average cat would need about 150 -200u a day or every other day or 50u per kg. I lieu of that, I would suggest the polyvisol baby vitamins with iron. I would go ahead with the transfusion, and then give the vitamins, minerals and anything else you can think of. I have started giving Merlin this new Ambrotose. I will keep you up to date on how it is working, but I understand it takes about a week or 10 days to start seeing some improvement. As to how long a transfusion will help is really anyone's guess. My Kallie got one and died the next day. But some act like kittens again. Sometimes it's one big roulette wheel. Good luck and whatever you decide to do will be the right thing, no matter what it is. Barb -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:13:38 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: It's time to say goodbye.. Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Cheryl, I don't know if by the time you read this Copley will be gone to the bridge. My Kallie and Newt will take good care him until he sees you coming to get him. I look at Merlin and wonder why I am so lucky to still have him and for how long. We just don't know why but we are all thinking of you and Copley will fly to the bridge on your love. barb -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:34:24 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Nutri cal Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Linda, Tho alcohol and I have not gotten along since I had my kids twenty some years ago, I sure could use one myself tonight. Tho I always prefered screw- drivers. Barb -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:37:31 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: Interferon given IP for FIP Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net I guess we will have to file this one away for another day. For those wondering if FIP is worse than FeLV, you are right, it is. barb -------------------------------------- From: Newtanator@aol.com Date sent: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:42:05 EST To: felvtalk@MailingList.net Subject: Re: Beast Send reply to: felvtalk@MailingList.net Kelly, You know I am thinking of you. I also have lost two. And to loose your mothers dog at the same time. I hope you will stay with us and Wuzzy will be fine as long as you are his mama. barb -------------------------------------- END OF PART 2: See Part 3 at: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/8025/9802203.txt